What Towers Do Best
by ninja-v
Summary: "You don't trust her." "We can never be too careful."- Alliances between hidden ninja villages never last forever. When Suna and Konoha are teetering on the brink of war, loyalties are tested and choices are questioned. Shikamaru/Temari
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer_: one could only wish.

Revised version (Aug 5 2012)

* * *

**I**

* * *

His nap was interrupted by a single feather falling right on the tip of his nose.

It was too much hassle to get himself off the meadow and up to the hokage tower, but Shikamaru reckoned that if he refused to answer the summons, the Godaime might actually send his genin students to harass him. That, he was not looking forward to.

So it was with considerable effort that Shikamaru got up, dusted his clothes, and made his way to the hokage tower. On foot, since he didn't feel like using chakra only to please the already-cranky hokage. Whatever it was, if she used the bird to summon him, it probably was important albeit not an emergency.

But then, there had been a lot of these summonses lately, mostly for missions—some with his genin team when the mission was D or C-rank, but at times he got his own share of B-rank missions, even A-rank on this one particular time. It was as if the village was running out of shinobi to send that they had to resort to genin instructors. This, and the fact that there had been barely any correspondence with Suna—never mind a courtesy call from Temari or any of ambassador for that matter, he was not even sure that the Hokage received any eagles from the desert village—somewhat tipped him off that Konohagakure was not faring so well lately.

Not a pleasant train of thought, but luckily he got to tuck it at the back of his mind for now, as he finally reached the top of the hokage tower.

The two chuunin guarding the door to the Godaime's office nodded to Shikamaru and opened the door for him. It's ridiculous—he could open the door himself, of course, as he would have done four years ago, but apparently he was now a "war hero" worthy of respect. No one listened to him when he said that the leader of the fourth division was technically Gaara. Gone was the times he hoped he were average; average shinobi did not get decorated for his "valiant acts" and "stellar leadership" during the shinobi world war. Then again, he probably had ruined "average" ever since he nearly singlehandedly decapitated a member of the Akatsuki. After that, everything had been going downhill to him.

"Oh, there you are. Catch," said Tsunade as soon as Shikamaru entered the circular office, tossing a mission scroll.

Shikamaru effortlessly caught the scroll and unrolled it. Upon encountering a large S on top, he frowned. "S-class?" Average shinobi did not go to S-class missions, he wanted to say, but he knew the Godaime would have none of that. Clearly she, along with everyone else, did not think of him as average or else she wouldn't have promoted him to jounin.

Tsunade made an impatient noise and a gesture, and Shikamaru unrolled the scroll further. "What…"

"Exactly as it is written there. Nara Shikamaru, you are to lead an S-class mission to Suna. Assassinate the daimyo of Kaze no Kuni. Leave no trace, as usual. You may pick your team members, but leave in two days."

Shikamaru did not answer and instead fixed his gaze on the mission scroll. Konoha would not issue such a mission unless there were great stakes. The only reason it would risk a war was because the village was already in war, or about to plunge into one anyway. And the only reason Suna would go to war with Konoha—

An old memory of a rumor fluttered in his mind.

"Gaara is dying," said Shikamaru, looking at the Godaime, "isn't he?" _And now his power is slipping and the daimyo, the war-mongering dictator, wants to war Konoha and what could a weak Kazekage do? Exceptional shinobi as he is—was, before his rough childhood and bijuu-hosting took their toll on him—Gaara no longer had the invaluable bargaining chip that was the Ichibi._

The woman simply sighed, if a little sadly. Now that Shikamaru paid attention, he could see that Tsunade had begun to unravel. Where there used to be the immaculate complexion of a twenty-year old, small crinkles and signs of aging had etched themselves in. She had not had proper sleep for weeks, and as such, her stamina and chakra were slowly degenerating. Naruto most probably hadn't heard of this, or he would have rushed to Suna and no one would have been able to stop him. He was inwardly grateful for this. Naruto was never fit to treat sensitive situations.

It was logical, Shikamaru supposed, to assassinate the current Wind daimyo. All those royalties next in line would fight each other and try to claw their way into power, and while they were all distracted, Gaara or someone close to him—his siblings, maybe, or the jounin Baki—would be able to gain more control over Sunagakure's movements, and as such, prevent a petty and unreasonable war.

Shikamaru scratched his head and lifted the unraveled mission scroll, gesturing. "It says there's a contact in Suna." And yet, there was no name there, only how to reach the contact: a rendezvous at a dango shop in a small civilian village in the outskirts of Kaze no Hi.

This contact might very well be the key between success and devastation. If the informant betrayed them—fed them false information, lead them into a trap—and the assassination was linked to Konoha, they might as well had started the war themselves. Instead of fighting each other as was the mission's objective, the royalties would unite under the banner of national threat and initiate the war directly.

On the other hand, this mission was delicate enough that its completion required a bit of some inside job from Suna's side. The risk had to be taken.

A thin malicious smile played on the lips of the Hokage. "I figured you'd want to meet _her_ again."

Shikamaru froze. _Well, that is just not fair._

"The instruction on how to contact her is there. Anything else you want to ask?"

Shikamaru scanned the scroll again. There were many things he would like to ask, but he doubted the Godaime would be able to answer any. He shook his head and excused himself.

* * *

"You're supposed to escort me to the gate."

Shikamaru sat up and turned. With her hands on her hips, standing like the queen of the hill, was Temari. She was smirking. Of course. She didn't need an escort—she hadn't needed any, for the past two years—she was just there to nag him on. Typical.

"You know, you really don't need an escort anymore. You can find your way around Konoha just fine, can't you?" Nevertheless, he stood up, dusted his pants, and walked her towards the general direction of the gate.

She snickered. "You're just pissed I found another one of your hideout."

"Yeah, how do you do that?" asked Shikamaru, half-curious. If he knew of her method for tracking him down—every single visit to Konoha lately, it seemed—maybe he could make a better effort to hide from the village. Or maybe not, since they would eventually find him anyway. Why make extra effort if the end was the same anyway?

"Oh, you wish you knew." Her eyes glinted.

"Not really," he shrugged nonchalantly.

The rest of the way they spent bickering on whether or not he really want to know how she found him every time. He eventually agreed, just because he knew she was dying to tell him and if he kept denying it she would thwack his head with her iron fan.

"I'm a ninja—I can find you _anywhere_," she declared proudly.

He rolled his eyes.

"_Anywhere_, Nara."

He was almost tempted to point out how that is completely illogical, no one could find something—someone—anywhere, but then he saved himself from another banter.

As they passed a dango shop near the gate, he made a gesture to it. "You know, they make good dango there."

Temari regarded him with a curious look, all smugness erased on her face for a second before returning in what seemed to be tenfold the usual. "Asking me on a date, Crybaby? Do I look like a cradle-robber to you?"

"I wasn't. I was just saying, they make good dango there."

"Unfortunately for the good dango of Konoha, I am on my way back to my village. Maybe you could remind me again next time." And with that she exited the east gate, leaving Shikamaru without any word of goodbye—just a promise of next time.

Of course, nobody told him that the next time would be them plotting the demise of her country's dictator in a completely different dango shop. But that was just how life worked out sometimes.

* * *

The day before the mission he spent with the relentless pestering from his genin team. They all demanded to be taken to the mission, since it was S-class and all. The bravado of the little ones used to be endearing a long time ago, but now they were just being plain annoying. By the looks of it, they were as annoyed as Shikamaru was, though, since he absolutely refused to even say what the mission was. He was not a blumbering idiot like Naruto, and even Naruto would not leak anywhere that Konoha was planning to assassinate the single dictator of the Wind Country.

He could only get to talk to Sakura after promptly slamming the door in front of the genin's face, much to their protestations.

Sakura raised her head from the cadaver she had been examining, elbow-deep in intestines, a slight annoyance twitching at her pink eyebrows. "Can't this wait, Shikamaru?"

"S-class mission. We leave tomorrow at dawn. Tsunade said I could bring anyone."

"Ino's a medic," Sakura pointed out. "And she was in your team originally."

Shikamaru could read what came next that was unspoken. _And Ino would bitch incessantly if Sakura was brought along and she wasn't. _Lucky for him, he wasn't planning on leaving Ino behind either. "I'm bringing Ino too. But not as a medic. Between us, and I mean it—keep it just between us or I'm dead—you're the better medic. I have another plan for her."

Looking a bit mollified by the compliment, Sakura finally nodded an agreement before shooing him out of the morgue.

"I don't want you two bitching in the team during the mission," Shikamaru warned just before he exited the room. He heard a snort and something along the line of "I'll be nice if she does". He'd ignore it for now. He just hoped the three days journey to Suna would not be as torturous as he imagined. Shizune would have been his first choice, but he decided that superhuman strength would draw less attention to Konoha rather than the poisons Shizune used which, if analyzed, had Konoha written all over the herbal ingredients.

It took a considerably longer time to convince Ino to hop in the team, more because she played coy than anything else. As expected, she was not pleased that Shikamaru chose another kunoichi as the team's medic-nin. Not to mention that the kunoichi he chose was the one Ino had always had a complex history with. Nevertheless, Shikamaru knew she would show up the next morning anyway despite the ambiguous ending (if throwing a bag of fertilizer to his face could be called such) of their conversation. Sakura might be the reason Ino objected so much, but she would also be the reason Ino would never miss the mission for the world. There was no way Ino would let Sakura take the entire spotlight in an S-class mission.

Hair smelling like fertilizer, he quickly informed Ino that the debriefing would be done at the gate first thing in the morning. Then he escaped the Yamanaka flower shop before Ino could lob something else to his general direction.

After trying to persuade Ino and Sakura, asking Neji to join his team was like a walk in the park. He immediately agreed, although he asked Shikamaru why he smelled like manure. Shikamaru tried his best to ignore the question and made an excuse to prevent further humiliation.

* * *

The little genin students begged and begged and nagged him to no end. Apparently an S-rank mission sounded glorious and exciting to them. He was almost considering not telling the kids how S-rank missions were the most dangerous, if not the most dirty, and there certainly were no glory in them.

Almost.

The children sulked for a while, but they ended up giving him an omamori and made him promise he wouldn't die.

* * *

After one day of travel, the team stopped at a hot spring inn in a civilian village.

"We're staying here for the night," said Shikamaru. Ino and Sakura looked visibly pleased. Neji just kept a straight face like he usually did.

The inn was called Kingyo, appropriately named with a goldfish engraved on top of the door frame, the golden paint dull and peeling. It was quite big and lavishly furnished, but there were spider webs near the ceiling and everything seemed lackluster. Even the front desk looked like it had not been polished for months.

The receptionist, a middle-aged man with a beer belly and a thin mustache, bowed to them as if they were godsend.

"Used to be a lot of travelers between Suna and Konoha, but lately we're lucky if we have five taken rooms in a night. Is there really gonna be another war?"

Shikamaru grimaced. That explained the shabby interior—the strain between Hi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni had started to take its toll on civilian business. "Not if we can help it."

The man gave them a wry smile. "How many rooms?"

"Two."

"With a view to the garden?" he asked hopefully, his lower lip wobbling under the thin mustache. Shikamaru was fleetingly reminded of a walrus.

Shikamaru opened his mouth, ready to decline, but Ino and Sakura cut him off before he could say anything and accepted the offer. The receptionist smiled even wider—if that was even possible—and opened the guestbook so they could sign on it.

A servant girl soon escorted them to their rooms. Neji leaned to Sakura and said quietly, in a slightly accusing manner, "Rooms with view are more expensive."

"We have a bigger allowance for S-rank missions, so relax a bit. Why not help the poor man with his business?" Sakura retorted back. Beside her Ino was nodding in agreement.

Shikamaru only hoped this friendliness continued. Annoying as it were, female solidarity was preferable to the continuous bickering the duo usually had.

The two rooms were side-by-side, and as it turned out, connected by a screen door. There were two futon in every room, and spare blankets in the closet. The servant gave them directions to the hot spring and asked them if they would have dinner in the room. Ino ordered generous portions to be delivered to the room after their bath.

"You know, Ino, we're not exactly with Chouji right now," said Shikamaru. Ino pretended not to hear this, and instead of reducing the orders, she dismissed the servant girl.

"Well, that was that," she said brightly. "Meet you all after the bath?"

"Don't fall asleep in the bath."

"Shut up, Shikamaru. Come on, forehead!"

Sakura shot Ino a dark look, but left the room nonetheless.

"Right," said Shikamaru, a little awkwardly, "maybe we should also clean ourselves up."

Neji looked at him, seemingly in thought. Shikamaru did his best not to cringe. After years knowing the Hyuuga clan, the eyes still had not ceased to freak him out a bit. "You go ahead," said Neji. "I don't like public baths."

Shikamaru was only too glad to comply. He really could not imagine going to the hot spring bath with the Hyuuga. People were supposed to make small talks in the hot spring. How one would go about making small talk with Hyuuga Neji is so far still a mystery to Shikamaru.

So there he was in the empty hot spring pool, thinking alone. This was almost as good as cloud watching, if not for the nakedness or the potential to pass out should he stay too long in the pool. Faintly, he could hear Ino and Sakura chattering from the other side of the tall bamboo fence. About him. And their contact in Sunagakure.

Well, he thought articulately, _fuck_. This was definitely far worse than cloud watching.

* * *

Reviews are much appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer_: disclaimed.

Revised version (Aug 05 2012)

* * *

**II**

* * *

The map of Kaze no Kuni was spread in the center of the room and surrounded by the four ninja, all barren beige and orange and barely any green on it. Another map, slightly smaller, covered half of the vast desert and showed instead the intricate details of Sunagakure sans the secret passages. In fact, the map was near useless, buildings after buildings without any labels except for the obvious (the kazekage tower), or the useless (the best suna dango shop in town). Of course, it was logical for a hidden village to not publish any map that could be used against them, but even the vague map was better than having to draw one.

"We're meeting the contact in this village," Shikamaru said, pointing at a speck on the Kaze no Kuni map, "a civilian village just after the border of Kaze no Kuni. We should arrive there just before sundown, and since we can't afford long breaks during the day we will leave this inn already in civilian disguise." He shot Sakura a look, to which she raised her pink eyebrow quizzically. "Sakura, that means you have to dye your hair."

"This was _not_ in the deal," she growled, positively scandalized.

"You know, even in the off chance that you don't get recognized as "that pink-haired medic from Konoha", your bubblegum hair could be seen from a mile away." The only way Shikamaru would leave Sakura and her hair alone was if they were to sneak in to a hanami. Then maybe she would be able to blend with all her namesake blossoms.

Sakura's face darkened when the word bubblegum was uttered—clearly she was not impressed by his description skills. Shikamaru sighed. "Black or dark brown. They'll still recognize you if you choose lighter shades."

"Fine. You're lucky this is S-rank, Shikamaru." Sakura looked like she was ready to throw a boulder, which, come to think of it again, was probably true in the most literal sense.

"Don't miss the eyebrows," Neji added, completely serious. Ino snickered in the corner.

"Ino, you are going to braid your hair tomorrow. That ponytail is far too flashy."

Ino's snicker faded.

"You and Sakura will wear plain kimono. Neji and I, plain shirt and pants. Normal straw sandals—no shinobi footwear. Absolutely no Konoha identifier, no hitai-ate, the deal." Upon looking at the girls' horrified reaction—which was somewhat understandable, since he could not imagine what it would be like for girls to fight in kimono—Shikamaru drawled, "I'm not all excited about this either, but we can't afford being recognized." _And this was supposed to be part of the special kunoichi training, how to fight in tight layers of kimono._

He would have also added the fact that Shizune was a perfectly capable fighter despite wearing kimono all the time, but that might not exactly get the desired effect on the two girls. There was also another woman he knew for being an insanely powerful fighter while wearing the most ridiculous attire—

—right, he needed to talk about the contact. His hand pinched the bridge of his nose. "Now, about the contact…"

"It's Temari-san, isn't it?" piped Sakura.

"Yes, her. According to the Godaime she has been giving information to Konoha, and she will be assisting us in the mission. However…" The words trailed away.

"You don't trust her." This time it was Neji completing his sentence for him. He almost looked relieved that Shikamaru did not decide to trust their contact right away. It was like Neji expected him to slip and make a blunder; much like he feared himself to.

But he had promised himself not to make that mistake. Once, when Temari came to his aid to fight against one of Orochimaru's Oto nin, she had made it clear that this aid, just like the previous invasion to Konoha, was just her following orders. Informant or not, her loyalty had always been on her village—or specifically, her brother. Nothing more than that.

Shikamaru nodded. "We can never be too careful. Ino."

"Gotcha." The blonde smiled, and not at all in a friendly way. It was no secret that Ino was never too fond of the Suna kunoichi.

"But don't do it right away, wait for my signal. Even if she has every intention to out us to Suna nin, they wouldn't attack us so early. She's not that stupid. So just wait until I make the signal."

Ino nodded, although clearly the excitement waned a bit. She was biting her lower lip—something that Shikamaru noticed as Ino's habit every time she wanted to say something but thought better.

"Neji, I would need you to scan the perimeter. Watch for unusual movements and chakra, the deal."

Neji made a "humph" in affirmation.

"Sakura, your role doesn't really come now as I doubt we'd need medical assistance so early, but I need you to be around and vigilant nonetheless."

"Of course," Sakura answered readily, although she was still vividly annoyed by his orders to dye her hair.

Shikamaru took a deep breath. While his teammates had agreed to every part of the plan so far, he was pretty sure this part would garner objections. "And…and when I am talking to the contact, I want none of you to interfere unless it is absolutely necessary. I will meet her alone and all of you would stand by somewhere hidden, but I do all the talking with her."

Ino began to protest—as he expected—but Shikamaru raised a hand and continued, "because if she is planning to out us and somehow she can contact backup, I do not want her to know who the team members are."

The unsaid question of whether or not Shikamaru thought Temari would betray them hung in the air. Shikamaru knew his teammates expected him to at least say what he thought was most likely to happen, but he would rather not make assumptions. Long ago, he took for granted that Asuma would always be there as a reliable sensei. The reality of what happened had wrecked him, and this time he chose to tread more carefully.

So carefully, that he neatly avoided calling the contact by her name.

* * *

The shogi board was all laid out with the pieces arranged in neat rows, ready to be played. On one side was an empty bench, on the other a young woman in a purple kimono and gray obi. Her blond hair was tied into a loose bun at the nape of her neck. She would have passed as a normal civilian, but her sharp, vigilant eyes betrayed her.

Her choice seat in the dango shop was immaculate; half-hidden from the rest of the restaurant by a decorative screen patterned with plum blossoms, the spot was neither suspicious nor too open. The precaution was not much use, however—it appeared that the shop was empty today, as it had been for the past few months. Like Kingyo, this shop profited from travelers between Kaze no Kuni and Hi no Kuni back when the alliance was still strong.

Dressed in what could only be described as nondescript civilian attire, Shikamaru sat on the empty bench right across the woman.

"Mind if I have a game?"

Temari looked up, but if she recognized him she didn't show it. "The guest may make the first move," she said, her hand making a sweeping motion over the board.

He moved a piece, and then she moved right after. It was almost as if she did not think much about it, and he didn't expect her to either. For the first few turns, they were merely building normal defense formations with their pieces, until Shikamaru made a move that elicited a smirk from her.

"A _bougin_, is it?"

"Sometimes, when dealing with a stronger enemy, sacrifices must be made and the offensive needs to be taken."

The password said and done, Temari leaned back and paid less attention on the shogi board, instead directing it to Shikamaru. "Why are you here, Nara?" Her face remained impassive for the most part; save for a slight frown Shikamaru knew Neji would not have missed even from his hiding spot in the ceiling.

"You know damn well why."

"I do, but _you_." She fixed a stare as if Shikamaru being the one sent for the mission was such a surprise.

"Why, did you think anyone else would come? An ANBU?" Assassination missions were mostly assigned to ANBU members, but this one was different. He was given this mission because Temari was involved. The Godaime—and possibly the council backing her—assumed that since he had worked with Temari before, he would be the best to judge where she stood.

"Maybe," she said, not betraying much, "someone else, or whatnot. But not you."

* * *

This was taking too long.

The gap between the roof tiles and the ceiling was narrow, barely enough for any of them to sit straight. Dust floated in the air, the particles moving lazily under the several beams of sunlight filtering in. Not a big problem for ninja—their training had required them to scout and wait in worse places, and the dust problem could be easily countered with simple masks Sakura had distributed between them—and yet the fact that she could not see a thing from this position had irked Ino to no end.

She turned to Sakura, but the other girl's expression was schooled. Sakura did not look particularly concerned with the lack of sight the attic provided. Then again, Sakura trusted Temari more than Ino did. While Sakura was part of the team that rescued Gaara from the Akatsuki, Ino never had any reason to trust the Suna woman more than necessary. What Ino remembered most of her was an old memory from years ago, Temari standing proudly with Tenten's limp body splayed on her iron fan, and then her battle with Shikamaru the month after.

It did not help either that Shikamaru had been acting curiously odd the whole time. Even she could tell that Sakura stepped on a land mine when she mentioned the contact's name at the debriefing the night before. Then he demanded to speak to this woman on his own. Ino knew Shikamaru had spent quite a considerable amount of time as her escort, that one time before the chuunin exams, but it was never clear what the deal was between the two. Naruto was convinced the two dated, but Naruto was Naruto.

Call it paranoia, or teammate protectiveness, but Ino loathed having Temari out of her sight. Or earshot, for that matter, since her teammate and the woman had been talking in low enough voices for her to not hear anything that was said.

The Hyuuga sitting on Ino's other side was even harder to read than Sakura. His face was strained in the way every Hyuuga looked like when they had their byakugan activated, veins pumping and forehead creased. Sitting like a statue, there was not much to interpret from his body language either, except for the fact that nothing major had happened and Shikamaru had yet to signal her to do her part.

Eyes boring down to the general direction of the hushed voices, Ino waited for her cue.

* * *

"The daimyo's building is in the middle of Sunagakure, very close to the Kazekage tower. He used to live in the Kaze no Kuni capital but with Gaara's…condition, he decided to keep a closer watch over things. Naturally it is surrounded by traps and layers of security," said Temari, her hand fingering the Knight piece from the shogi board before placing it back.

"You can get us in," said Shikamaru. It was a demand, a confirmation, but not a question.

"Obviously. But what is this "us" you're talking about? Could the eavesdroppers from the attic be part of your team?" She smiled, devious, "Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"I entertained the possibility." He would rather she did not notice at all, but that might be hoping for too much. At the very least, she did not know the identity of his teammates, yet.

She sighed. "You entertain too many possibilities, Nara. You're now hiding them from my view because you fear I would tip the others off…"

Shikamaru stiffened on his seat. He didn't like people reading his plans, and now this woman was doing her best at it. His eyes flickered to the entrance of the dango shop—deserted and empty, unsurprisingly, and yet he let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding.

"There are no _the others_, for fuck's sake I was just trying to make a point."

"Which is what?" he asked, tone carefully guarded. He straightened a piece on the board, and took a sip from his nearly empty cup, just so his hands had something to do.

"You're too careful for this kind of mission."

"Stealth missions are supposed to be handled carefully," he argued.

She smiled thinly. "I mean missions that can get you killed."

For a moment they were back to the past, back when she treated him like he was a child, an incompetent _crybaby_, instead of what he actually was: a ninja. She was doing it again, talking about missions that could kill him while he very well knew that even a simple C-rank escort mission could turn instantly lethal. It used to be a game, and her role was to be condescending while he would half-reluctantly argue with her.

But they did not have time for this game. "We probably should get going if we want to reach that safehouse you talked about," Shikamaru said as he leaned down as if to grab his pack. As his hands were partially concealed by the table, he made the necessary seal for his Kagemane, his fingers snapping into place effortlessly.

The shadow tendrils found her before she could even tell what was happening.

Shikamaru stood, and Temari was dragged forcibly, mirroring his movements. Her knees bumped the table, shaking the shogi board and scrambling the pieces. He barely paid any attention, eyes fixed on her pained visage as he raised his right hand—and consequently, hers—to cue Ino to show herself.

"Why?" she gasped, livid.

"I entertain many possibilities." Did she really think he would trust her right away?

Shikamaru could hear ragged breath and hurried steps behind him, but a thud and a quick glance confirmed that Sakura had proved herself useful and sedated the shop owner as soon as she jumped down the ceiling. Neji was close on her heels, byakugan activated and although he was facing him, Shikamaru knew that the Hyuuga was scanning the perimeter for suspicious movements.

In the two seconds between Ino hopping down the ceiling and Ino standing in front of Temari, hand firmly holding the latter's crown of head, Shikamaru had a wild thought flitting in his head.

_This happened before, way before, when I was still genin. I let her win back then._

* * *

Sakura watched as Ino held the crown of Temari's head. Ino's shoulders were hunched in concentration. Although Sakura couldn't see Ino's face from where she stood, she could imagine her rival—or best friend—with her eyes closed and eyebrows knitted. She had never seen Ino doing this, though. She did know that Inoichi was part of Torture and Interrogation, and that the Yamanaka Clan in general was known for being able to do jutsu specializing with the mind. Sakura had even experienced Ino's Shintenshin no Jutsu firsthand.

What Ino was doing right now, however—skimming thoughts and memories and stripping all privacy from one's mind—was new to Sakura's eyes.

She watched as a trickle of blood drip from Temari's lip—the blond Suna nin bit her lip, face screwing up.

Ino jerked back. She held her head in her hands, breathing ragged. "I can't get through," she said weakly, "she won't let me."

"You mean like when I resisted your Shintenshin?"

"No. It's like…her mind is militarized or something. Not only she struggled to keep me away from anything about Suna, she…she put forward other memories instead, painful ones." Ino turned to face her three teammates. "I think someone trained her."

"Against you, or against mind attacks in general?" asked Shikamaru. He was still holding the jutsu, droplets of sweat forming on his temple.

"I don't know! Does it matter?" Ino exclaimed, frustrated. She pointed a finger towards Temari. "What I know is she _consciously _attacks me, and do you have any idea how terrible it is?"

Sakura knew how terrible it felt to have the control over her body invaded by another consciousness. Maybe having her brain ransacked would be worse. Not that saying this would improve the situation in any way.

Temari spat some blood and smirked, which only agitated Ino further.

"Sakura, put her under," said Shikamaru. Temari began balking by throwing profanities, her body unnaturally still as she was bound by Shikamaru's shadow.

Sakura walked forward, pulling out a syringe from her kimono sleeve. Temari was glaring at her with murderous eyes. Before Sakura reached Temari, though, Ino raised her hand to halt her.

"Let me."

Ino took the syringe from Sakura. With one sweeping motion, she plunged the needle into Temari's neck, none too gently. As the sedative took effect and the Kagemane left her, Temari fell like a rag doll over the table, shogi pieces scattered around her figure.

* * *

-special thanks to bellatoz guardian and my mercury. Without you two the whole thing about the daimyo would make much less sense.

Reviews and constructive criticisms are always welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

****Disclaimer: yeah, no. I don't own.

Note: I revised several parts in chapter 1 and 2, you might want to take a look. Not necessarily big changes, although YMMV.

* * *

**III**

* * *

Consciousness shook her harshly after what seemed to be hours, judging from the dim interior of the place she was in. Unlike how sedative-induced sleeps usually ended—with lucidity slowly seeping in—Temari woke up with a jolt, eyelids snapping open and a scream escaping her throat. The scream, however, was muffled by the gag they had placed in her mouth, and the jolt caused rope to dig more into her skin. The comforting coolness of the two small iron fan she hid in her sleeves was absent, leaving her feeling vulnerable.

"She's awake," said a male voice—not _his_ voice, she knew—and she wanted to tell them exactly how awake she was. The gag unfortunately got in the way of that. At least they had the decency to give her clean cloth for the gag, although that did not pacify her state of mind at all.

To be completely honest, she had suspected the mission would go awry the moment she saw Shikamaru taking the seat across her. Why she was surprised when she found out that he had been planning to get in her mind, she had no idea either. She had been harboring a suspicion that the Nara once felt something for her, but that hardly meant that he would be weakened by it. When his teacher died, he only got craftier instead of reckless.

A hand—small and relatively softer than ninja hands in general—touched her shoulder. A girl with black hair pulled her up and rested her back towards a wall. Squinting, Temari tried to put a name on the face. This girl looked somewhat familiar, despite something being not right.

The girl took off the gag and offered a bottle. Temari sniffed it—clear. She considered the likelihood of it being poisoned, but then decided against it. If Shikamaru and his team wanted her dead, she would not even have woken up. She took a tentative sip, not even noticing that she was thirsty until she felt herself gulping water from the bottle greedily. After her thirst was quenched, she felt a prick on her arm, and drowsiness soon caught to her again.

The girl—Temari knew that face, she had seen it before—watched her as she was brought under once again. The recollection clicked just then, and she called out, a bit numbly as her senses had begun to dull, "Sakura…san."

She was Uzumaki Naruto's medic teammate who once saved Kankurou's life, and now she was in charge of Temari's.

Sakura's lip twitched into an almost-smile. "Temari-san," she called back hesitantly before Temari finally was dragged back into sleep.

* * *

The safe house was less of a house and more of a small, one-room shack, wooden walls and dirt floor covered by a leaked makeshift roof of some sort. There was not even a half-decent washroom—or any washroom at all, for that matter—a trivial matter supposedly for a shinobi, but Ino could wish. They put the Suna woman in ropes and gag and then placed her by the wall in the furthest corner from the door. She was out cold, at least for an ample six hours, before making some noises. Sakura tended to her and sedated her again.

If given the choice, Ino would want a bit of those sedatives herself.

She did not tell anyone what exactly those painful memories Temari showed her. She did not want anyone to think her of weak, because she would never be able to make them understand with words how horrific the images were, how they lashed out to her and dug their barbs in her consciousness. _Telling _would never do the fragments of carnage any justice.

Because that was exactly what she was showed: carnage. But shinobi were used to the sight of slaughter—some even embraced blood, a few even relished in the pain. What Temari offered her, however, were pieces and slivers of past battles—the select worst ones—sewn into one, slamming into Ino's psyche mercilessly. Anyone who had experienced battles would know how the only thing keeping them alive was the adrenaline, the rush of the moment that kept them from being struck by mind-numbing cold sweat. After the battle was over and the casualties were numbered, the adrenaline would drain away and there would only be fear left behind.

Many of those who had gone through wars tried to drown these recollections under; Temari chose to bring them up to the surface as a weapon against Ino.

Just exactly what kind of person would do that?

Not only had Temari successfully inflicted trauma on Ino, the woman had also hurt her pride as a Yamanaka. While her father would at least be able to extract some information from an unconscious subject, Ino could only sift through one jumbled image after another after Temari was already sedated. There was no longer any conscious attack, but flashes of corridors and buildings without a precise sense of orientation could hardly serve their mission. Worse, Ino could not find any recollection on Temari tipping off anyone in Suna about their mission. This could either mean that Temari was faithful to their cause, or that she was a very good double-dealer who knew how to conceal memories—not too far a leap, considering the kunoichi was capable of attacking back when her mind was about to be raided.

The team had agreed to assume the latter. Even if they tried to proceed with the mission—and succeeded—Kaze no Kuni knew where to point the blame assuming Temari had told them. Leaked information or not, it was wiser to retreat now.

And all these happened just because Ino had chosen to compete with Sakura in medical ninjutsu, instead of following the Yamanaka tradition in which she could very well excel in.

* * *

Crossed-legs and quiet was Shikamaru, his fingers bent and connected at the tips into his signature meditative pose. Their initial plan was to flee incognito after the deed was done, relying on the disarray and chaos the security system of Kaze no Kuni would turn into once they found the corpse of their leader. Their plan B—the one catering to the scenario in which the contact betrayed them—was to have Ino extract all possible information from the informant and dispose her after they were done. They would return with the info, report to the Godaime, and consider Konoha's options from there.

Shikamaru could not help himself from feeling rather glad he did not have to kill Temari—not yet, anyway. After all, killing her would not have been done for gains, but for remedial measures. It would have been just one of those things that had to be done to keep secrets unspoken.

Nevertheless, he had not considered the chance that somehow Temari had been trained in mental defense. Even less accounted in his big board of equations was Ino's actual capability, or lack thereof, in extracting thoughts from people.

He did not know if he should blame it on himself for overestimating his long-time teammate, or on his family for implanting the belief that the Yamanaka are all experts of the human mind. Both, maybe. Both had spun together and brought his team, and Konoha to an extent, into this conundrum.

They could always resort to the original plan B and hide or destroy the body if they ran out of options—he had told his teammates as much. The fault with that plan was that they would not be able to bring anything home, and Konoha would not know where to stand.

No, he had to bring home something. They would have to take Temari back to Konoha and turn her over to Torture and Interrogation. Then maybe the actual professionals in extracting truth would get something out of her. There had to be something important underneath all those defense layers.

He just had to figure out exactly how they would smuggle a jounin who was near royalty from her own country.

Shaking Sakura's shoulders lightly, Shikamaru roused her. Sakura started, one finger already latching on the ring of a kunai before she realized that it was just Shikamaru and they were not under any attack. "What is it?" she asked warily.

"How much do you know about temporary death?"

Sakura smiled a rather wistful smile. "I know enough."

Shikamaru did not probe further into her expression—that was not vital to the plan. He only needed to confirm that Sakura could do her part in this—he would not walk in the same mistake that brought them there in the first place. "Thanks. Go back to sleep, I have some work cut out for you tomorrow morning."

He watched Sakura curling back to sleep, his mind already forming the finer details of the plan.

* * *

When Shikamaru explained to them the plan at dawn, Ino was the first one to understand and slash her own arm with a kunai, tearing the fabric of her sleeve along with the skin underneath. The blood dribbled down and stained her hands and the kimono, but she barely winced. This was nothing. Just flesh wound. Her tears she saved for when she needed to tell the story.

Ino turned to Sakura and asked her to punch her straight on the jaw. Sakura only looked at her uncertainly.

Gritting her teeth, Ino said, "Our friend died when those rogue ninja attacked us and took our cargo, and we leave unscathed?"

Comprehension flashed on Sakura's face, and she punched Ino hard enough to make a swollen bruise.

* * *

They were close to the border already, having passed the civilian villages before. The people stared and some approached them. Several made sympathetic comments. A few actually offered them meal and a few ryou, and even a place to stay for a night. None had noticed how the dead girl with short black hair on Shikamaru's back was actually Sabaku no Temari, sister to the Kazekage. None had questioned her death, with two senbon piercing through her neck.

The sun was harsh on the dry lands of Kaze no Kuni—sweat mixed with smeared blood, sticking skin to cloth and dust. The gashes they made earlier that morning on themselves had begun to dry and flake by the edges, spreading dull itches around the wounds. They walked slow, civilian-paced, taking one step after another heading northeast.

The biggest discomfort to Shikamaru, however, was the deadweight slung on his back. Arms hanging from either side of his neck and head lolling forward, bouncing ever so slightly with every step taken, Temari was eerily dead to him. He knew it was meant to be like that—in fact, he would be very disappointed in Sakura if she had made Temari any less dead—yet the unnatural cold skin and listless limbs felt much too authentic. Very authentic, in fact, that he began to question if she would really wake up when the time came.

Ino had offered to carry the body the whole way, but Shikamaru rejected the idea. Civilian women commonly could not carry a grown person and still walk normally. He was the tallest and most built in the team, and so he would carry Temari. Ino actually looked abashed when he told her that.

"When we are clear through the Kaze no Kuni border, you can carry her for the rest of the way."

This seemed to appease her for the time being.

Shikamaru had chosen a trail that was fairly far from any watch posts, but without knowing the exact patrol schedule of the border guards there was a considerable chance of them running into some. He only hoped luck was on his side that day after it cruelly abandoned the team for the past few days.

Looking at the three men standing tall ahead of them with their Suna hitai-ate glinting under the sun, however, Shikamaru started to believe that luck did not exist.

The three Suna shinobi jumped from their spot and landed right in front of the team, observing.

Keeping his tone humble like a lowly merchant would, Shikamaru asked, "Can we help you with anything, sir?"

"Identify yourself," the one in the middle demanded. He was the shortest compared to his peers, but his muscles were the most defined and the others seemed to bow under his authority.

"Souma, sir," Shikamaru lied, "These are my friends. We're just herb traders from Kawa no Kuni, sir. Our cargo got robbed, we're injured and our friend was killed. We just want to return home." Shikamaru's head was bowed down, his body bent under Temari's weight more than it ought to.

"Who robbed you?" This time it was the one on the left. His voice was stern, although Shikamaru could sense a hint of sympathy lacing it.

Shikamaru shook his head. "We don't know. I think they are ninja, they bring ninja weapons and our friend died with needles through her neck."

Upon this, the one in the middle leaned forward to observe the senbon through Temari's neck. He seemed to be unsuspecting, but when he took a step back and looked, really looked at Shikamaru's face, his countenance changed and he pointed a finger.

"You—I know—"

His speech was cut off as Shikamaru's kunai tore through his throat, fast. Blood sprayed Shikamaru's face and clothes, some sticking even on Temari's skin. The man fell, face-down, his shocked expression frozen. Shikamaru shrugged Temari off and left her beside the dying man—the two subordinates had ran, and as Shikamaru turned towards them he saw his three teammates hot on their tail.

"Don't use ninjutsu or chakra!" he shouted, more to Sakura and Neji than to Ino. Having their signature moves spread all over the battleground would only point the blame to Konoha, and they could not afford that.

They seemed to hear him, thankfully, as Neji unsheathed his tanto and Sakura pulled a kunai out. Soon enough, the two subordinates were also sprawled on the dirt, blood pooling around their body.

"Strip them."

Neji looked at Shikamaru sharply. "Excuse me?"

"I said, strip them. Take their valuables, their weapons, everything. If we're gonna make this look like it's done by some outlaw missing nin, it's only logical we do it."

Neji still defiantly stared at Shikamaru, his pale visage stained by spots of blood.

Shikamaru groaned. "I didn't say we have to keep their stuff. Burn them, bury them, drown them later but for now just take their things."

He didn't wait for Neji to respond, and immediately went to the Suna nin he killed—the leader of the patrol squad. Shikamaru kicked the body over and the dead man stared right at him, eyes open and gaze empty.

Shikamaru turned over and retched, his shoulders shaking as he vomited bile.

He soon felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Ino peering warily at him. Grimacing, he said to Ino, "I know that man."

"What?"

"I know that man!" he snapped, finger pointing at the dead Suna nin and his glassy eyes. "I know him because he was in the fucking war under my fucking division. When we won, remember that night with the big bonfire and gallons of sake, he toasted with me and told me about his pregnant wife."

Ino's lip was trembling. "Shikamaru…"

Shikamaru only laughed mirthlessly. "He said he'd name the kid Shouri, for the victory we won. And then—listen to this—he fucking _thanked _me. He thanked me and now I killed him."

Fingernails dug into Shikamaru's shoulder, and although he was not facing her he could tell Ino was crying. Shikamaru gently closed the dead man's eyes, whispering hoarsely, "I killed a kid's father for the sake of one half-dead treacherous informant who played mind games with me."

Shinobi were people who, since they were old enough to walk, had been trained to kill. Shikamaru knew that. He had killed before. He should be able to cope with this. Mouth still bitter, Shikamaru searched the pockets of the body, taking what little ryou the man had with him along with some scrolls and a fairly good knife. He stuffed the items in his pack unceremoniously.

Standing up and wiping bile from his mouth, he turned to his team with a steeled expression.

"Come on, the sooner we leave this place the better."

* * *

As usual, do tell me what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Mustang belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. Or is that a different fandom?

This is for my Mercury (intoxicatedasphyxiation), who is the pro of all pro when it comes to pick ANBU animal motifs and code names.

* * *

**IV**

* * *

The gigantic hiragana A and N appearing just after they exited the forest had never been a more welcome sight to Ino. With Temari's weight pulling her down the entire journey, Ino was worn and tired. She refused all offers from her teammates to carry the body nonetheless, and bore the burden without complaint. Shikamaru made a few glances to her direction, but he did not make a remark on this newfound determination of hers. She was grateful for that. She could tell that he wanted to bring the body himself—that much was obvious from the way he longingly looked at the Suna woman before handing the body to Ino—but she needed this odd little form of retribution more than he did.

Kotetsu and Izumo, as usual—Ino wondered if they had ever left the gate—were standing guard. Kotetsu waved at them before pointing at Sakura, asking, "Who's that with the bad hair?"

Sakura made a rude hand gesture that did not escape anyone's attention.

Ino rolled her eyes. While poking fun at Sakura were usually part of her daily hobbies, her lethargy and exhaustion begged otherwise this day. The joke was an old one anyway. "I'll go ahead and drop her off at T&I," she said to Shikamaru. "I'll submit my report sometime this week."

"Bad mission?" Izumo wondered out loud.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Could be a lot worse," he said—although he did not sound like he meant it to Ino's trained ears—running his fingers through his disheveled ponytail. "We got a debriefing today," he told Ino then.

"Make it tomorrow," Ino snapped before hopping off towards the Intelligence Division building. The Godaime would probably chew Shikamaru's head off for that, but right now that was not what Ino cared about.

The Intelligence Division building was new, the old one having been destroyed when Pain invaded Konoha. Unlike the old one, this new building was only one-story tall and considerably smaller. The main part of the office was underground along with Konohagakure's prison. Ino knew this from his father, the rebuilding having been one of the things they talked about in dinners. Inoichi had hinted that the division was understaffed, too, but back then Ino pretended that she did not know what her father was getting at.

At the administrative desk was a bespectacled chuunin Ino knew as her father's subordinate. He seemed a little surprised that Ino was there, and nodded in acknowledgement. Gossip had it that the man once took a shine on Ino, but her superior father shot him down before he even made a move. Now the poor chuunin addressed Ino rather too formally, even if he was technically older than her.

"Ino-san," he greeted. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Um, Mozuku-san. I'm just dropping off a prisoner. Is my father around?"

Another man, his eyes covered by bandages and hitai-ate, appeared from the corridor by the administrative desk. "Inoichi-san is on duty," he told Ino. "I can deliver a message to him, if you want."

Ino shook her head. "That's okay. It's nothing too important." She tilted her head as she watched the shinobi. "Do I know you?"

"Yes, if you count seeing me when you were ten much of an introduction," he said, sounding rather amused.

"Ten?"

"Oh, this one chuunin exam where you kids had to cheat to pass." Putting an unlit cigarette between his lips, he grinned.

Ino frowned. "Sorry jii-san, can't remember." She did, though, because there was an exam proctor who caught a cheating genin back then, and she had wondered if the proctor could even see through the bandages and hitai-ate. It was satisfying, however, to see the end of his lips turn down slightly at the jibe. Just what she needed to lighten her mood: a new person to poke fun on.

From his body language, he was probably rolling his eyes although it was near impossible to tell. "Just give me the prisoner," he sighed, extending his arm.

She shrugged of Temari and passed her to the man. "Put her in high-security. She's still in stasis right now, but soon when she's back alive and kicking she won't be the happy kind of prisoner. Haruno Sakura should be here soon enough to check on her state."

"The one with the pink hair?" asked Mozuku. He looked rather hopeful when he said it, Ino noted. Interesting.

"That's the one," she affirmed, "Although for the mission she dyed it black. Don't mention it in front of her, she absolutely loathes it."

Inoichi showed up from the same corridor the shinobi with the bandages came from, looking rather perplexed at her daughter's rare appearance in the Intelligence Division. "Fancy seeing you here," he said, not even bothering to hide his surprise.

The two men vividly straightened up at the sight of the older Yamanaka. Ino grinned sheepishly and raised her hand in greeting. "Hi dad."

"I take it the mission failed?" he asked Ino, although not unkindly.

Ino flinched. "That obvious?"

"Well, it was not a capture mission," he glanced at Temari, whose limp body was now on the bandaged shinobi's shoulder, "and you returned a little too soon."

Although the mission was top-secret, Ino had expected his father to know what it entailed. He was, after all, a clan leader and thus member of the council. Smaller missions very rarely got discussed in council meetings and went directly to the mission assignment desk, but important S-rank missions either were the council's orders, or approved by it nonetheless before the hokage herself assigned it. Even the mission leader—and often, the team members, although not in this case—most likely got chosen by the council too. Ino shuffled her feet, feeling more or less embarrassed that her father knew exactly what mission they failed at, and the stakes that came with it.

"About that…" Ino said, rather uneasily. She glanced at the two other shinobi, who had been watching the exchange the whole time.

The shinobi with the bandages adjusted Temari's weight on his shoulder. "I should be putting her in her cell already," he said tactfully.

Mozuku only looked too happy with the chance of escape. "I'll help you unlock the cell. I'll see you around, Ino-san. Inoichi-san."

"Run along now," said Inoichi, and the man scurried off obediently, the bandaged one following him.

"High security, jii-san! That's Sabaku no Temari you're carrying!" called Ino to the shinobi's retreating back.

He turned. "You know, the name's Tonbo. And I am not a jii-san." The cigarette between his lips bobbed with every word, and Ino somehow could tell that he was not as annoyed as he tried to look.

Ino stuck her tongue out.

"I can see that, you know." He turned towards Inoichi and made what was supposed to be a bow with the weight of a full-grown woman threatening to slip off his shoulder. "Inoichi-san."

Inoichi nodded, and Tonbo left them. Rather bewildered, he looked at his daughter. "Did I miss something?"

Ino shrugged.

"Alright, what did you want to tell me?"

Ino knelt and bowed deeply into a perfect dogeza, her forehead touching the floor. After taking a deep breath, she firmly said, "Please let me apprentice in the Intelligence Division."

* * *

Although Shikamaru had dismissed the team and told them that the debriefing was to be done the next day, he still went to the hokage tower nonetheless. There were still dried blood staining his flak vest, and splatters of it on his face and neck. He had outright refused to bathe or at least wash off the stains. Let the world know that he had just killed a kid's father and failed his mission.

His pace was sluggish, even slower than when he last went to the tower to receive the mission just a week before.

Shikamaru knew that by now Ino was probably in the Intelligence Division building. He wondered if she also took her time there to talk to Inoichi. She probably did, since usually she avoided the task to drop prisoners—and consequently, the Intelligence Division—like her life depended on it. It was not much of a secret between their three clans that Inoichi once wanted his daughter to join the division, and that Ino's subtle refusal had disappointed him. Shikaku had even once asked, rather pointedly and not too subtly, why the girl had chosen to study medical ninjutsu.

Shikamaru just shrugged and said that he didn't understand her reasons either. It was less troublesome than actually trying to explain the whole childhood rivalry going on between Ino and Sakura when he could not really get it either.

He wondered if the outcome of this mission would have been different, had he given a different answer to his father.

Any shinobi jaded enough understood perfectly well how useless contemplating the past—and the different future that could have been—were. Shikamaru himself had found several years ago that dwelling upon the many what-ifs of a past event would only bring depression to the dweller, but there were just times that he could not control his musings.

Like now, for example.

The setting sun had casted a rich orange hue to the sky, and the clouds were near nonexistent today. And so instead of contemplating the many different shapes water vapor took in the sky, he continued thinking of the many different scenarios his life would go through had he made different choices. Would he have been in a better shape if he had declined the mission?

His teammates realized that he was cracking. They just did not understand why. It was not the murder of the Suna border patrol, although he let them think it was. The death was tragic and Shikamaru would have taken it back if he had been able to—again with the what-ifs—but it was not the only reason. It was merely the trigger, the last straw.

No, the bigger part of the reason why he now felt like shit was the prisoner they took home. He tried to convince himself that it was a purely objective reason—they had, had they not, kidnapped their one and only informant in Suna who also happened to be the Kazekage's sister and for all they know the whole village was lighting torches and ready to march into Konoha—but this deep unsettling bitterness that kept rising to his mouth was not _objective_.

In fact, if he told Ino he highly suspected that she would categorize it as the pain of a breaking heart.

No, he was definitely not telling Ino. Maybe Chouji, or maybe no one at all.

When he reached the tower and started walking up the winding staircase, he was still listing the alternate realities that could have happened, both the ideals and the ones less than desirable.

To his surprise, one of his teammate opened the door for him when he knocked the door. It just so turned out that Shikamaru was not the only one with the idea of reporting directly even before the team debriefing. He shouldn't be surprised. She was, after all, the Godaime's own apprentice.

Sakura stood, one hand still on the door handle, gesturing Shikamaru to come in. He stepped inside and she closed the door.

Tsunade sat behind the desk, her figure framed by towering paper stacks and scrolls. Her elbows rested on the table, fingertips touching, chocolate orbs fixed on Shikamaru. The gaze was boring into him, and somehow he felt oddly self-conscious about the blood splatters still on his skin and clothes, stamping the failure of the mission on him.

"Well?" barked Tsunade.

Shikamaru sighed, starting to regret the decision to come to this tower. He should have just gone home. And yet he started talking, explaining everything from the very beginning. He chose Ino because he needed her Yamanaka secret techniques to see inside Temari, because he was not sure yet if he should trust her. He recruited Neji to be the recon man in their team, and Sakura to be the team medic—although then she served a rather different role than what Shikamaru initially had in mind.

"I considered two possibilities: either she works for Kaze no Kuni or she stays loyal as our informant. I didn't see a third possibility coming up, that we couldn't even figure out where her loyalty lies."

"You brought Yamanaka Ino," the Godaime said, and Shikamaru visibly cringed.

"It was a wrong choice. I should have chosen someone truly experienced from T&I. She is half-baked in the Yamanaka arts of mind jutsu, but I was not fully aware of that."

The Godaime made some incoherent sound, signaling him to continue. Sakura was standing still, her posture rigid before her shishou.

Shikamaru continued, "I was biased because she was my teammate—and because she is a Yamanaka. That mistake and her incompetence cost us the mission and I am not proud of it."

"Sakura explained the events that happened during the mission, but she said you were the only one talking to Sabaku no Temari at the rendezvous point?" She pressed, and Sakura inched just a bit from Shikamaru, her eyes shifting away from between the hokage and the team captain, and ended up towards the window.

"I did. The rest of the team hid in the attic until I signaled them to approach." He did not mention what the conversation was filled with. Barely anything was relevant, anyway. With the current situation of Temari's true alliance being in the dark, her claim on the daimyo living close to the Kazekage might as well be a lure to a trap.

One hand pinching the bridge of her nose and the other groping underneath her desk before eventually pulling out a porcelain bottle of shochu, Tsunade growled, "What I mean, _gaki_," she spat the word before taking a deep gulp of the liquor, "is whether or not you have something to report regarding the half-hour of your little chat."

Try as he might and yet he could not evade that demand coming her way. "She made several claims," he carefully said, "whose nature is questionable."

Tsunade slammed the bottle on the table hard. Shochu spilled everywhere and Sakura jumped to help tidy up the mess before the older woman made a dismissive wave and Sakura was back on staring out the window again. "Are you hiding things from me, Shikamaru?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Then tell me what you two talked about during that rendezvous, because I swear I am starting to question if we sent the wrong person to Ibiki's playground." The Godaime was angry—Shikamaru could sense it. The woman was two seconds away from actually sending Shikamaru to be interrogated.

"There wasn't much…" Shikamaru insisted, but upon catching the Godaime's eyes he explained further, "the half an hour she spent dancing around the actual purpose of the rendezvous. At first she said she did not expect me to be sent to the mission. Every time I managed to make her reveal a sliver of information, she turns it against me or my incompetence. I humored her at the beginning. She's always like that, after all."

"_That_?"

"She plays mind games. She always does, outside mission situations. I know that when it came to business she used to act brisk and to the point, but not this time." Shikamaru wiped his face with one hand. "Anyway, she said the daimyo moved to stay in Suna due to Gaara's condition. She promised a way in through the security. The details to the strategy were to be discussed in a safe house she promised us, and that was when I put the kagemane on her and set Ino to do her job, just in case this safe house was a trap. And that's what led us to this situation in the present."

The woman was still watching him as though she expected him to continue, but he said no more and challenged her gaze. She finally reclined with a defeated sigh, her features worn and tired. "Sakura, leave us."

Sakura started, her gaze snapping from the window—it was dark already outside—and to her clearly distressed mentor. "Yes, shishou."

"Sakura," Shikamaru called, and she turned with a slightly perturbed expression as her exit from the office was delayed. "You need to check on the prisoner's condition tonight," he mumbled. She nodded and exited the room.

"Mustang," Tsunade called, and an ANBU officer dropped down from the ceiling panel above the office. His mask was the standard porcelain white, long rust-colored markings running down the sides. He stood straight, his posture not betraying any emotion and yet was the very picture of attentiveness.

Eyeing the ANBU warily, Shikamaru thought about the many rumors about the spooks. If to civilian the shinobi were considered powerful, yet dangerous and dark, the ANBU held more or less the same effect to normal shinobi.

"I've got an assignment to you," said the Godaime, looking at codename Mustang before turning to Shikamaru, "both of you."

* * *

The Intelligence Division staff who introduced himself as Mokuzu had escorted Sakura to Temari's cell before excusing himself. She did not miss the many times he opened his mouth as if to say something and then closing it again during their walk down to the dungeon. It probably was a comment about the hair. After Kotetsu made the comment about her hair, Sakura had promised herself to kill the next person who said anything about it—except she couldn't, because it was her shishou who did it and she actually complimented her for going all-out in being incognito.

Sakura decided that it was good that Mozuku acted as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with her.

But he must have noticed. He did, after all, recognize her and greeted her by name when she entered the building.

Deciding not to think too much about it, Sakura eyed the body on the cot propped up by a wall in the cell. If she had not been the one who chopped and dyed the hair and half-killed the woman herself, Sakura would not have guessed that the woman in that cot was Sabaku no Temari. This listless pale woman looked like a civilian, not a powerful jounin who could flatten half a forest with one swipe of her giant fan.

Temari hadn't brought her giant fan to the rendezvous point. The small iron fans strapped to Temari's arms under her kimono were in Shikamaru's possession. He took it from Sakura after she stripped it off Temari without much explanation, although Sakura suspected the reasons he had behind it were sentimental.

Sakura set her medical pack on the floor before opening it and taking out supplies. She barely needed to stock up before going to the cell, having used only two tubes of sedatives during the mission. With the skill of a professional, Sakura pulled the senbon one by one from Temari's neck, her hand steady as she did so. The wrong move and the wound might widen or worse, the senbon would prick a new hole. When dealing with the human neck and its structure, such mistakes could be terribly fatal. Blood started spilling out the wounds as soon as the senbon were out, but with a quick dab of antiseptic and chakra treatment, the wounds closed and the skin was restored. The small round marks of new skin on her neck were a little raw and pink but otherwise flawless.

Such a pity, considering Temari might soon get scarred anyway during her stay in these damp cells. That should not be Sakura's concern, though. Her role was to heal. She would leave the maiming to Ibiki-san and his division.

By the time Sakura was done with the examination, Temari's face had regained a bit more color and her pulse, albeit weak, had returned. She was still unconscious, but Sakura did not expect a person who had stayed in a stasis for a full day to immediately wake up anyway. She had done the most she could do as a medic until Temari woke up.

When she left the cell, an ANBU ninja was standing guard. His mask was plain, save for thick black markings under the eyes that made the impression of eye bags. The mask and the slight slouch he carried somehow making the shinobi look rather lethargic—not precisely how ANBU personnel appeared to the general society.

Sakura considered asking the ANBU if he could notify her when Temari regained consciousness, but then she decided against it. Temari might have been their responsibility for the duration of the mission, but not anymore. She was not a prisoner and the Intelligence Division would do its work from now on. Besides, Sakura was not sure she could stomach returning underground here again.

After one last glance towards the limp figure in the cell and the ANBU on guard, Sakura left.

* * *

I'm not sure...if I made it clear enough the whole situation about Temari being an informant since I think someone said they got confused. Basically no one knew yet if she were loyal to Kaze no Kuni or Konoha or whatever. That's why the mission to assassinate the daimyo was canceled. Too risky.

Do tell me what you think.


End file.
